The Geodiversity Group of the International Geographical Union have announced the return of their annual Geodiversity Online Seminar, in celebration of International Geodiversity Day.
6th October is the International Geodiversity Day proclaimed by UNESCO in 2021 for a worldwide celebration bringing people together to promote the many aspects of geodiversity. The International Geographical Union (IGU) supports this new initiative strongly, and has established a Geodiversity Group in order to enhance awareness of this international day, to highlight the significance of geodiversity, and to explore geographical perspectives on geodiversity. The IGU Geodiversity Group, with the support of the IGU Executive Committee, is pleased to announce the second IGU Seminar on Geodiversity from Geographical Perspectives, which will be held online. The theme for this year’s Geodiversity Day has been announced as “Conserving the Past, Sustaining the Future”.
Seminar Programme
Geodiversity from Geographical Perspectives 2024 10:00 – 12:30 GMT, 6th October 2024
Introduction (10:00-10:10) Chief Coordinator: Prof. Yukio Himiyama (IGU Past President, himiyamay@kkd.biglobe.ne.jp)
Session 1: Geodiversity Showcase (10:10 – 10:40) Coordinator: Prof. Suraj Mal (Chair, IGU Commission on Biogeography and Biodiversity, Center for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, surajmal@jnu.ac.in)
The present session aims at showcasing the current state of Geodiversity in the world, highlighting the significance, properties and interpretations of variety of assemblages of 1) geological features, 2) geomorphological landforms and spatialtemporal dimensions of underlying physical processes, and 3) soil properties. Presenters outline the major features of geodiversity in their case (the scale is up to the presenter) with an indication of what features are considered to be most significant and why. It would be followed by a description of the measures taken to conserve the geodiversity in question, what are the underlying legal, administrative and practical instruments invoked to ensure conservation and to highlight any shortcomings in these.
Session 2: Geodiversity Sustains Biodiversity (10:40 – 11:10) Coordinator: Prof. Pei Wang (Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, pwang@ihb.ac.cn)
To call for international collaborations in order to promote the understanding on what is the basic laws underlying the geodiversity sustains biodiversity patterns; why geodiversity is so important in conserving the biodiversity under the global change; how to make the geodiversity and biodiversity values better serve for the need of the public and achieve the SDGs. The purpose of this session is to gather cases and share experiences on geodiversity-biodiversity patterns around the world in order to better recognize the past and serve the future from Geographical Perspectives.
Session 3: Geodiversity – Understanding Contexts for Policies (11:10 – 11:40) Coordinator: Prof. Maria Paradiso (IGU Vice President, University Federico II, Naples, and National Marine Biodiversity Centre, maria.paradiso@unina.it)
The purpose of this session is to gather views and examples from human geography to the overall discussion on human drivers on biodiversity and needed changes for policies. Examples of topics of interest might include assessing promising ideas, testing of ideas and scales effects, missing links, gaps for an integrated human-physical geography understanding of contexts for policies in regard to geodiversity. The idea is about combining conceptual level, cases and possibly fieldwork.
Session 4: Round Table on “Conserving the Past, Sustaining the Future” (11:40 – 12:30) Chair: Prof. Yukio Himiyama (IGU Past President, himiyamay@kkd.biglobe.ne.jp)
Discussants: Prof. Mike Meadows (IGU Immediate Past President, michael.meadows@utc.ac.za) Prof. Suraj Mal (Center for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, surajmal@jnu.ac.in) Prof. Pei Wang (Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, pwang@ihb.ac.cn) Prof. Maria Paradiso (IGU Vice President, University Federico II, Naples, and National Marine Biodiversity Centre, maria.paradiso@unina.it)
Online Meeting Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85463489897?pwd=JffRdIxkegZAmqVVAJvrV5JjpY5Sob.1
Number: 854 6348 9897, Code: 701331
Host: Prof. Pei Wang
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